Torture – corpus delicti and its difference from other violent acts

Torture - what is it?

Torture is understood as systematic beatings with the aim of causing pain to a person, but which did not lead to moderate or severe harm to health.

If the consequences are defined as harm to health of moderate or severe degree, then Articles 111 and 112 of the Criminal Code come into force.

An important characteristic is the repeated repeated actions of the offender.

In addition to beatings, Article 117 of the Criminal Code contains the concept of other violent actions. These include:

Choking (blocking breathing);
Bites;
Section;
Pinching;
Exposure to temperature;
Multiple minor injuries from blunt and sharp objects;
Electrical damage;
Torture of genital organs;
Hunger and thirst;
Insults.

In general, torture can be defined as torture that brings moral and physical suffering, but does not seriously threaten human health.

Torture: Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, what it is, punishment in 2021

What is torture according to the Criminal Code

Each word or phrase in the law carries a great meaning, often not the same or much greater than what is usually put into it in simple speech. Torture in this regard is no exception.

The Criminal Code defines torture as inflicting physical or mental suffering on through systematic beatings or other violent acts .

Suffering in this definition is torment, pain, especially strong experiences. They can be physical or moral.

Mental suffering due to actions not related to violence, without physical contact with the victim, does not entail punishment under the analyzed article. This could be, for example, constant humiliation or insults.

Such actions may be punishable under other provisions of the Criminal Code that establish liability for, for example, threats, hooliganism, and slander.

Battery – in this case, the infliction of bodily injuries that either did not cause any harm to the victim’s health or resulted in slight harm to him. This could include beatings, blows with hands, feet, or other objects. Moreover, such blows and other similar impacts on the victim must be repeated.

Other violent acts - can cause pain and suffering, these are painful repeated or prolonged impacts on the victim.

This can include pricking with piercing objects, superficial cuts of the skin with cutting objects, twisting of limbs, pulling, hair pulling, pinching, biting, scratching, burns with hot objects, liquids, chemicals, electric shock, violent acts of an offensive nature, etc.

Such actions include deprivation of food, water, leaving the victim in potentially dangerous conditions, for example, in the cold, in a room with a large amount of gas, dust.

In torture, beatings and other violent actions that cause pain are just a way to achieve a result other than simply causing bodily harm. This result is to bring excruciating, painful sensations, suffering and anxiety to the victim.

Systematic infliction means multiple instances of influence on the victim by the above methods.

Legal practitioners proceed from the fact that in order to establish the system in this case, 3 or more facts of such unlawful behavior against the victim are necessary.

However, systematicity is evidenced not only by the repetition of injuries, but also by their interrelation, showing a certain line of behavior of the perpetrator in relation to the victim.

The purpose of influencing the victim during torture is the desire of the perpetrator to constantly inflict torment and special suffering on him. It is as a result of this systematic nature that the victim experiences mental suffering caused by humiliation, resentment, hopelessness, fear of a repetition of the situation, etc.

What will not be torture

Several independent facts, unrelated to each other or occurring over a sufficiently long gap in time, of causing injury or pain to the victim cannot be qualified as torture. For example, injuries received by the victim during constant or periodic mutual quarrels due to hostile relations between the participants will not be qualified under Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Injuries that occur once or twice, even with short intervals between them, will not be considered torture and beatings.
Torture will only occur when, as a result of the described illegal actions, no harm to the victim’s health occurred or minor harm resulted. That is, light harm is the maximum possible for qualifying an act under Art. 117 "Torture". If the severity of the harm caused is significantly more dangerous to health (moderate or grave harm), liability will arise under other articles of the Code - Art. 112 and art. 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, the torment and suffering of the victim is regarded as a qualifying sign.

Systematic facts of beatings and other violent actions against the victim can be regarded as torture only if they ultimately result in physical or mental suffering.

At the same time, this suffering is an unmeasurable sign. It is established based on all the circumstances of the incident in their totality. For law enforcement officers, this is an evaluative sign that cannot be measured by any examination. In this case, forensic experts can only determine the nature of the effects, their duration, method of formation, etc.

Composition of torture

Any act prohibited by the Criminal Code under pain of punishment must include 4 mandatory elements characteristic of each specific crime. There must be specific components for torture.

Object - the area to which harm is caused by the crime - for an act under Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is, without a doubt, human health.
The subject is the one who committed the crime and meets a number of criteria that make it possible to bring him to justice. A sane individual aged 16 years and older will be responsible for actions constituting torture.
The subjective side is the internal attitude towards the act on the part of the person held accountable. For Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, this component of the crime must be represented by direct intent. It assumes that a person understands that his actions are illegal and will lead to negative consequences, and wants them to occur.

Purpose of torture

In order for the actions of a criminal to be qualified specifically under Article 117, he must have goals. Most often, the goal is to induce the victim to take actions that are contrary to his interests and will. In specific situations, these may be different actions. For example:

Receiving the information;
Obtaining recognition of committed actions;
Coercion to sign documents and other actions of this kind;
Sexual perversion and dissatisfaction;
Mental disorders of the attacker.

Qualifying characteristics and types

The qualifying criteria are the circumstances of the crime, on the basis of which various types of torture are distinguished. These circumstances are considered aggravating:

There are two or more victims;
The victim is an official or his relative;
The victim is a pregnant woman;
The victim is a minor;
Dependent on the criminal or helpless;
The crime was committed against a hostage;
Torture by torture;
Criminals are an organized group;
The criminal has national, religious, political, racial motives;
Torture was committed due to hatred of a specific social group.

Several of these signs can be combined in one crime.

Corpus delicti

The crime of torture consists of an attack on the safety, health (including the psychological state) and freedom of a person.

Object and objective side

The object, therefore, is public safety, freedom and health of the victim.

The objective side is the methods by which the crime was committed. As a rule, these are various instruments of crime - furniture legs, electrical appliances, strangulation cords, etc.

Subject and subjective side

Subject is any person who has reached the age of 16 and is recognized as legally competent.

Have a question for a lawyer? Ask now, call and get a free consultation from leading lawyers in your city. We will answer your questions quickly and try to help with your specific case.

Telephone in Moscow and the Moscow region: +7

Phone in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region: +7

Free hotline throughout Russia: 8 (800) 301-39-20

The subjective side is the motives of the criminal. They can be very diverse:

Sexual deviations and mental disorders;
Beliefs;
Conflicts in the family;
Selfish goals.

It is the moral aspect of torture that is the reason for classifying it as a serious crime. This is due to the fact that often due to moral humiliation, the victim becomes dependent on alcohol, drugs and commits suicide.

Torture (v. 117)

Torture (Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) - infliction of physical or mental suffering through systematic beatings or other violent actions.

This definition allows us to solve the problem of distinguishing this crime from beatings, classified according to the rules of multiple crimes, from beatings as a continuing crime, as well as from causing serious or moderate harm to health, committed with particular cruelty, torture or mockery.

Object of the crime:

generic – social relations in the field of personal protection;
specific - public relations in the sphere of protecting human life and health;
direct - social relations that develop regarding the realization by a person of the natural right to health and guaranteeing the safety of this good.

Victim – any individual.

The objective side of torture is expressed by the act in the form of active actions (beatings or other violent actions), the consequence in the form of physical or mental suffering of the victim and the causal relationship between them.

The corpus delicti is material.

Battery constitutes torture only if it:

are applied systematically, i.e. several facts of beatings form a system of relation between the perpetrator and the victim, causing him physical and mental suffering;
did not cause serious or moderate harm to health. If such harm occurs, the act must be qualified under paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 111 or clause “c” of Part 2 of Art. 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Causing minor harm to health is covered by the elements of torture.

Infliction of physical or mental suffering by other violent actions covers any means of inflicting said They can consist of cutting with rods, whips, causing multiple mild injuries with piercing or blunt objects, pulling out hair, pinching soft tissues, torment by hunger, thirst, thermal factors, etc.

Torture is not a type of harm to health, but represents a method of influencing the victim’s body, whether or not associated with causing minor harm to health. Therefore, it is recognized as a completed crime from the moment of committing actions qualified as torture, regardless of the consequences.

The subjective side is characterized by direct intent.

Subject is a sane individual who has reached the age of 16.

The qualified elements of a crime constitute its commission:

in relation to two or more persons;
in relation to a person or his relatives in connection with the performance of official activities by this person or the performance of public duty;
in relation to a woman who is known to the perpetrator to be pregnant;
in relation to a person who is known to be a minor or a person who is known to be in a helpless state or in financial or other dependence on the offender, as well as a person who has been kidnapped or taken as a hostage;
using torture;
a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organized group;
for hire;
for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity towards any social group.

Specific to this crime are aggravating circumstances associated with the torture of a person who is financially or otherwise (relative, official, etc.) dependent on the perpetrator, as well as with the use of torture.

Under torture in accordance with the note to Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation refers to the infliction of physical or moral suffering for the purpose of forcing to give testimony or other actions contrary to the will of the person being tortured, as well as for the purpose of punishment or other purposes.

Criminal liability

Since torturers pose a serious danger to society, they must be isolated from it. Therefore, such a serious crime is most often punished by imprisonment.

Torture without aggravating circumstances is punishable by:

Restriction of freedom;
Forced labor;
Deprivation of liberty.

All sanctions are for a period of up to 3 years.

In case of aggravating circumstances, the term ranges from 3 to 7 years. In this case, only one type of liability is possible - imprisonment.

Criminal liability for torture

P. KONSTANTINOV P. Konstantinov, senior prosecutor of the department of public prosecutors of the St. Petersburg prosecutor's office. In Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, torture is understood as the infliction of physical or mental suffering through systematic beatings or other violent actions, unless such actions cause serious harm to health (Article 111) or moderate harm to health (Article 112). A novelty in the legislation is that the socially dangerous consequences in the composition under consideration consist in causing not only physical, but also mental suffering. Physical suffering is the result of causing physical pain to the victim. Mental suffering is characterized by the manifestation of the stress state of the victim and the infliction of other mental injuries on him that are not in the nature of mental disorders (the latter form a crime under Article 111 of the Criminal Code). The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not provide definitions of the terms “beatings” and “other violent actions”, which constitute the objective side of the crime under consideration. The definition of beatings is contained in the Rules for forensic medical examination of the severity of harm to health (hereinafter referred to as the Rules), approved by Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation of December 10, 1996 N 407 “On the introduction into practice of the rules for conducting forensic medical examinations” (as amended on March 5, 1997 .). In the Rules, beatings are understood as actions characterized by repeated blows, which may result in bodily injuries (which are not regarded as harm to health and their severity is not determined), and also which may not leave behind any objectively detectable injuries. Torture occurs only with systematic beatings, while the law also does not disclose this element of the objective side of the composition. In our opinion, systematicity should be understood as beating the victim three or more times, not necessarily in a short period of time. This position was adhered to by the Supreme Court of the RSFSR. According to the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR dated September 25, 1979 “On the practice of courts considering complaints and cases of crimes under Art. 112, part 1 art. 130 and art. 131 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR “torture consists of intentional, systematic (more than two times) beatings of the victim or the commission of other violent acts, the nature of which indicates an intent to cause the victim special excruciating pain or suffering. Repeated infliction of minor bodily harm or beatings cannot be considered as torture if, on one or more charges that give grounds for qualifying the actions as systematic, the statute of limitations for criminal liability has expired, which, in accordance with paragraph “a” of Part 1 of Art. . 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is two years. At the same time, the systematic nature of beatings should not be reduced only to a quantitative factor. Judicial practice also comes from this. Thus, the Krasnogvardeisky District Court of St. Petersburg reclassified Punin’s actions from Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation at Art. 116 (beatings) on the grounds that in Punin’s repeated actions there are no signs of systematic beatings, taking into account the time intervals, the circumstances of the crime committed, the lack of their relationship and internal unity, in which the victims (ex-wife and son) would have suffered more than just physical pain, and physical and mental suffering. The Nevsky District Court of St. Petersburg reclassified Sorokin’s actions from paragraph “g” of Part 2 of Art. 117 at station 115 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (intentional infliction of minor harm to health), since the court found that Sorokin only twice intentionally caused bodily harm to his mother, resulting in minor harm to health. The court also came to the conclusion that these violent actions against the victim have no connection and unity. In another case, the Leninsky Court of the Admiralteysky District of St. Petersburg found Ozerov guilty of committing a crime under paragraph “g” of Part 2 of Art. 117 (torture of a person known to be in a helpless state by the perpetrator). The court found that Ozerov, while intoxicated, systematically (at least five times) over nine months beat his elderly mother, thereby causing her mental and physical suffering. This judicial practice seems correct, since systematicity is characterized not only by the repetition of beatings, but also by their internal unity, due to the intent of the perpetrator to inflict special torment and suffering on the victim. Other violent actions include prolonged infliction of pain by pinching, cutting, causing multiple, including minor, injuries, and other similar actions. Unlike beatings, the law does not indicate the systematic nature of other violent actions as a mandatory sign of torture. Consequently, even isolated particularly painful acts can form part of torture. The absence of a definition of the concept of violent actions in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation necessitates turning to the lexical meaning and doctrinal interpretation of the terms “violence” and “violent actions”. In modern Russian, violence is understood as the use of physical force against someone, forced influence on someone, oppression, lawlessness <*>. ——————————— <*> Ozhegov S.I. Dictionary of the Russian language. M., 1983, p. 344. L. Gauchman notes that the definition of violence includes both factual and legal characteristics. He includes objective signs, a method of action, as well as subjective signs that characterize the attitude to action as factual. As legal characteristics, he singles out the illegality and social danger of actions <*>. ——————————— <*> Gaukhman L.D. Combating violent attacks. M., 1969, p. 4. R. Bazarov considers violence in criminal law as the deliberate use of physical force (muscular or with the help of weapons, other objects and substances, through animals) to another person and aimed at violating the physical integrity of the person, causing harm to health or life <*>. ——————————— <*> Bazarov R.A. Criminal and legal characteristics of violence / Problems of ensuring the personal safety of citizens. M., 1995, p. 42 - 43. The content of the above definitions of violence comes down to the deliberate use of physical force against another person with the goal of causing harm to his health or life. In our opinion, under violent actions in the sense of Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation should be understood not only as the use of physical force on another person (through muscular force, any objects, animals), but also the impact on the internal organs of the victim when giving, for example, various kinds of medicines, narcotics and other substances that cause the victim physical and mental suffering. It does not matter how such drugs were introduced into the victim’s body: forcibly or fraudulently. For there to be an element of torture, it is necessary that such drugs were administered with the purpose of causing special pain and suffering to the victim. Mental violence is not covered by the disposition of Art. 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not fall under the concept of other violent actions. In the science of criminal law, mental violence is usually understood as threats, which is highlighted by the legislator as an independent feature when constructing various elements of crimes: Art. Art. 131, 163, etc. Although threats, especially murder, cause mental suffering to the victim, the actions of the perpetrator do not fall under the elements of a crime under Art. 117 CC. The objective side of the crime in question consists only of criminal actions, although physical and mental suffering can also be caused by criminal inaction, for example, prolonged deprivation of water, food, etc. In the scientific literature, such criminal behavior is characterized as “mixed inaction,” which is possible only when the perpetrator had the obligation to prevent the onset of criminal consequences. A special duty to take active actions aimed at preventing criminal consequences may arise from the law (for example, the duty of parents to take care of young children and children of elderly parents). Consequently, if parents deliberately deprive a child of water and food for a long time in order to cause him special torment and suffering, criminal inaction will occur. The current version of Art. 117 of the Criminal Code allows such parents to avoid criminal liability (under paragraph “d”, part 2). They will be held accountable under Art. 156 (failure to fulfill obligations to raise minors). This will allow them to evade fair punishment, since the sanction of paragraph “g” of Part 2 of Art. 117 provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 3 to 7 years, and Art. 156 - up to 2 years. The disposition of Art. does not mention 117 and the concept of “torment”. According to the Rules, torment should be understood as the infliction of suffering by prolonged deprivation of food, drink or warmth, or by placing (or leaving) the victim in conditions harmful to health. In our opinion, the concept of “torment” is covered by the more capacious concept of “violent actions”. It is no coincidence that the legislator provided for increased criminal liability for torture compared to crimes such as beatings (Article 116) and intentional infliction of minor bodily harm (Article 115), the sanctions of which do not provide for imprisonment. This is explained primarily by the fact that the goal of a person acting with direct intent is to cause special physical and mental suffering to the victim. Physical and mental suffering is also caused in the event of minor harm to health, causing a short-term health disorder or a minor permanent loss of general ability to work (Article 115), or the commission of violent acts that caused physical pain, but did not entail the consequences specified in Art. 115 (Article 116). Therefore, in practice, difficulties arise in distinguishing torture from the crimes provided for in Art. Art. 115 and 116. It seems that the wording of the disposition of Art. 117 of the Criminal Code, which reveals socially dangerous consequences (causing physical or mental suffering), is not entirely successful. Taking into account the above, it is advisable to propose the following wording: “Intentional infliction of special physical and (or) mental suffering through systematic beatings or other violent actions or inaction, if this did not entail the consequences specified in Art. Art. 111 and 112 of this Code." LINKS TO LEGAL ACTS

“CRIMINAL CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION” dated June 13, 1996 N 63-FZ (adopted by the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on May 24, 1996) ORDER of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation dated December 10, 1996 N 407 “ON THE INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICE OF THE RULES FOR FORENSIC MEDICAL EXPERT PROCEDURES PERTIZ" DECISION of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 09.25.1979 N 4 “ON THE PRACTICE OF CONSIDERATION BY COURTS OF COMPLAINTS AND CASES ABOUT CRIMES PROVIDED FOR BY ART. 112, Part 1 Art. 130 AND ST. 131 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR" Legality, No. 4, 2000

Standard forwarding rules and civil codes »

Comments on laws »

Demarcation from adjacent trains

It is important to distinguish torture from beating. This crime is classified under Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In general, this is a less serious crime, although it has much in common with torture. The main differences are:

Regularity of criminal acts. The beatings are inflicted sporadically, but the torture is systematic;
Torture, unlike beatings, causes not only physical, but also moral damage to the victim;
The maximum punishment for beatings is 2 years, and for torture – 7 years;
Various motives. In the case of beatings - hooliganism, and in torture - selfish goals or humiliation of a person;
Instruments of crime. For beatings, various improvised means (sticks, etc.) are often used, and for torture, sophisticated tools are selected that will bring more pain to the victim.

In general, beatings are often considered not according to the Criminal Code at all, but according to the Code of Administrative Offences, Article 6.1.1.

Article 117. Torture

The objective side of the crime lies in the act

expressed in the form of
two alternative actions
:

1. systematic beatings

(at least 3 times applying multiple blows),

2. or other violent actions causing physical or mental suffering

(prolonged infliction of pain by pinching, cutting, multiple, including minor injuries with blunt or sharp objects, exposure to thermal factors, prolonged deprivation of food, drink or heat, or placing (or leaving) the victim in conditions harmful to health, or other similar actions) .

It is important to note that systematic beatings

represents
a chain of interrelated actions
, united by
a common line of behavior
of the perpetrator towards the victim and the desire to cause him constant physical or mental suffering.

The systematic nature of beatings causes the victim not only physical, but also mental suffering, accompanied by feelings of humiliation, resentment, etc. Therefore, even repeated beatings cannot be considered torture if they were scattered in nature and not united into a system.

In this case, the health of the victim should not be caused to severe or moderate harm. Otherwise, the act is covered by Art. 111 or 112 of the Criminal Code and additional qualifications under Art. 117 of the Criminal Code does not require it.

Intentional infliction of minor harm to health in the process of torture is covered by Art. 117 of the Criminal Code and additional qualifications under Art. 115 of the Criminal Code is not required.

Infliction of mental suffering through systematic humiliation or threats is not considered torture. In appropriate cases, these actions may form elements of other crimes against the person, Art. 130, 119 CC.

The object is the health of another person.

The subjective side of the crime is guilt in the form of direct intent

. The perpetrator realizes that he is causing physical or mental suffering through systematic beatings or other violent actions, and wants to commit them.

The subject of the crime is a sane person who has reached the age of 16 years.

The corpus delicti is formal

, i.e. the crime is considered completed from the moment the socially dangerous act is committed.

In Part 2 of Art. 117 of the Criminal Code provides for the following qualifying criteria:

a) in relation to two or more persons; b) in relation to a person or his relatives in connection with the performance of official activities by this person or the performance of public duty; c) in relation to a woman who is known to the perpetrator to be pregnant; d) in relation to a known minor or a person known to the guilty person to be in a helpless state or in financial or other dependence on the guilty person

, as well as a person kidnapped or taken as a hostage;
e) using torture
; f) by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organized group; g) for hire; h) for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity towards any social group.

Let's look at some of them.

Under financial or other dependence

is understood as the dependence of the perpetrator on the person who is his dependent, lives in his living space, without having his own, etc. Another type of dependence includes, for example, official dependence, based on subordination to the person responsible for the work of the victim (the worker to the head of the workshop, and that to the director of the plant, etc.). Such dependence can arise in a variety of cases (for example, the dependence of a student on a teacher, a witness or a defendant on an investigator).

Under torture

, according to the note to Art. 117 of the Criminal Code, refers to the infliction of physical or moral suffering in order to compel testimony or other actions contrary to the will of a person, as well as for the purpose of punishment or other purposes.

However, in relation to Art. 117 of the Criminal Code, this concept should be interpreted restrictively, since if physical or moral suffering is caused in order to compel testimony, then criminal liability will arise under Art. 302 or 309 of the Criminal Code.

Question No. 9. Threat of death or serious bodily harm.

The objective side of this crime consists in the actions

, constituting
mental violence
and expressed in
expressing the intention to kill
another person
or cause
him
serious harm to health
.

The threat can be expressed orally, in writing, by gestures, in the media

.
A threat to another person can be made directly or transmitted through third parties. To enhance the mental impact, the perpetrator may resort to displaying weapons
.

Threat is understood as mental violence against the victim with the aim of changing his behavior in the interests of the threatening person or for reasons of revenge.

Thus, a prerequisite

the onset of criminal
liability
for threats to kill or cause grievous bodily harm is
the reality of the expressed threat
. This means that the victim must perceive the threat as real, i.e. as the intention of the perpetrator to realize it after some time.

The immediate object of the crime is the mental comfort (balance) of the individual, the safety of life and health of another person

The subjective side of the crime is characterized by guilt in the form of direct intent

. The person realizes that he is threatening the victim with murder or causing grievous bodily harm, which he perceives as real, and wants such a mental impact on the victim.

If the threat is not intended to cause death or serious harm to health

, but there are reasons to fear the realization of this threat.

The subject of the crime is a sane person who has reached the age of 16 years.

The corpus delicti is formal

. It is considered completed from the moment of uttering or performing actions (gestures) that are perceived by another person as dangerous to life or health.

Qualified staff. The same act committed for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group.

To distinguish the threat from other crimes, it is important to establish whether he had the intention to carry out the expressed threat

murder or causing grievous bodily harm.

In some cases

the threat of murder or infliction of grievous bodily harm is
a method of committing another more serious crime
and is qualified under the relevant article of the Criminal Code (for example, Articles 120, 131, 132, 296 of the Criminal Code).

Question No. 10. Infection with a sexually transmitted disease. HIV infection.

The objective side of the crime lies in the act

expressed in the form of
two alternative actions
:

1. systematic beatings

(at least 3 times applying multiple blows),

2. or other violent actions causing physical or mental suffering

It is important to note that systematic beatings

represents
a chain of interrelated actions
, united by
a common line of behavior
of the perpetrator towards the victim and the desire to cause him constant physical or mental suffering.

Intentional infliction of minor harm to health in the process of torture is covered by Art. 117 of the Criminal Code and additional qualifications under Art. 115 of the Criminal Code is not required.

The object is the health of another person.

The subjective side of the crime is guilt in the form of direct intent

. The perpetrator realizes that he is causing physical or mental suffering through systematic beatings or other violent actions, and wants to commit them.

The subject of the crime is a sane person who has reached the age of 16 years.

The corpus delicti is formal

, i.e. the crime is considered completed from the moment the socially dangerous act is committed.

In Part 2 of Art. 117 of the Criminal Code provides for the following qualifying criteria:

Let's look at some of them.

Under financial or other dependence

Under torture

Question No. 9. Threat of death or serious bodily harm.

The objective side of this crime consists in the actions

, constituting
mental violence
and expressed in
expressing the intention to kill
another person
or cause
him
serious harm to health
.

The threat can be expressed orally, in writing, by gestures, in the media

.
A threat to another person can be made directly or transmitted through third parties. To enhance the mental impact, the perpetrator may resort to displaying weapons
.

Threat is understood as mental violence against the victim with the aim of changing his behavior in the interests of the threatening person or for reasons of revenge.

Thus, a prerequisite

The immediate object of the crime is the mental comfort (balance) of the individual, the safety of life and health of another person

The subjective side of the crime is characterized by guilt in the form of direct intent

. The person realizes that he is threatening the victim with murder or causing grievous bodily harm, which he perceives as real, and wants such a mental impact on the victim.

If the threat is not intended to cause death or serious harm to health

, but there are reasons to fear the realization of this threat.

The subject of the crime is a sane person who has reached the age of 16 years.

The corpus delicti is formal

. It is considered completed from the moment of uttering or performing actions (gestures) that are perceived by another person as dangerous to life or health.

Qualified staff. The same act committed for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group.

To distinguish the threat from other crimes, it is important to establish whether he had the intention to carry out the expressed threat

murder or causing grievous bodily harm.

In some cases

Question No. 10. Infection with a sexually transmitted disease. HIV infection.

Where to go and how to fill out an application?

To initiate a case of torture, you need to contact the police department at your place of residence. Any fact confirmed by three-time inspection of damage presupposes legal proceedings. Therefore, you need to write a statement addressed to the head of the police department.

However, it makes sense to apply only if there is evidence of systematic beatings and the harm they caused. In particular, this evidence may be testimony. They must confirm the regular nature of the torture, and also that it was carried out by the same person.

In practice, this means that the police must already have two statements regarding beatings, and then the third statement will be a fact to initiate a case of torture.

The difficulty of qualification in this case also lies in the fact that a forensic examination can only establish the health consequences of beatings, but cannot in any way prove their systematic nature. This should be done by the police when investigating this case.

The statement to the police is made in free form. The main thing is to indicate the details of the addressee (head of the department), the details of the applicant, describe the essence of the case and attach all documentary evidence. If you have questions about filing a statement, the victim will be assisted at the police station.